By Vaiva Utaraite
OKLAHOMA CITY – Adam Luck, a former chair of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, will be speaking at the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK-CADP) annual dinner and meeting on June 24, and said he is looking forward to sharing his “experiences” on the board.
“I am grateful to the coalition for the opportunity to come share more about my experience on the board and the concerns that service left me with about the state of Oklahoma and how we make one of the most important decisions a society can make about one of its members, that of whether they live or die,” said Luck.
Oklahoma resumed the death penalty in 2021 after a six-year moratorium. Since then, the state “has executed eight men [and] seven more executions are scheduled in the next 14 months,” said Don Heath, chair of the OK-CADP.
When the death penalty was reinstated, said CADP in a statement, Luck constantly battled “moral questions” as a steady advocate for clemency. He was at odds with Gov. Kevin Stitt, the coalition noted, who is a grand supporter of the death penalty.
CADP said Stitt was pressured to “resign” from his position and along with former District Attorney Kelly Doyle, “were the targets of a grand jury investigation launched by David Prater,” another supporter of capital punishment. Luck resigned in Jan. 2022.
Since his resignation, Luck has become the chief executive officer of City Care, which is “a nonprofit organization seeking to inspire those willing to look social injustice and extreme poverty in the face and empower them to do whatever to create change,” stated Heath.
“Adam Luck served courageously on the Pardon and Parole Board in the face of pressure from Stitt and Prater,” said Heath, Chair of OK-CADP. “Luck is a man of conscience. We look forward to hearing him tell his story of how he wrestled with moral questions during his time on the Board.”
